Lessons from the LeBron Dunk Footage

Though it ultimately (and predictably) disappointed, the confiscated footage which surfaced yesterday taught us a few things…

1) eBaum Nation > TMZ: When it comes to video quality, eBaum had TMZ beat on the story by a very wide margin. Both sites paid a princely sum for the highly saught after video – the bidding war was reportedly, and in some ways understandably insane – but eBaum was the clear winner. Of course, not as many people read their site (plus they don’t have a TV show), so TMZ isn’t exactly losing sleep over the defeat.

2) LeBron’s camp next year is going to be an absolute circus. You know some of the kids are going to be trying to become the next Jordan Crawford, and amateur videographers will be out in full force (if they can somehow sneak cameras into the building.) Also, will the guy who got his tape famously snatched in the first place ever get it back, let alone a credential for next year’s camp?

3) Hype is always bigger (and better) than reality. The unveiling was predictably underwhelming. Such is life. Never get your hopes up too high, folks, you’ll only set yourself up for disappointment.

4) Nike and LeBron screwed this one up royally. It’s clear to anyone who watches the video that James had nothing to worry about. He obviously wasn’t playing his hardest, and got caught on a nice play from a talented college player. No big deal. Had he just ignored the entire thing, the dunk might have enjoyed relative fame, but only in the darkest corners of YouTube.

(Even the folks who bought the tape couldn’t understand the big deal about all of this. Fail, LBJ. Epic Fail.)

5) Not really a lesson – at least not yet, anyway – but what happens to Jordan Crawford now? Does Nike toss him into an ad next season lampooning the whole thing? It certainly couldn’t hurt them (or his career).

6) This, too, shall pass: Very soon, a reporter will get a hold of him and inevitably ask James about all of this, LeBron will reply with some vague statement, and the story will die. Happens all the time. Mega superstar athletes sometimes do and say crazy things when amateur video tape is rolling. Speaking of which, does anyone recall this?